This application relates to automated touchless plumbing facilities, and particularly to washrooms, bathrooms and kitchens that have active sensors to sense a user's position and movement, to sense fluid levels within a fixture, and to control the facilities.
Washroom facilities, including bathrooms in private dwellings and restrooms in commercial buildings, have the potential for accumulating high concentrations of bacteria. For example, high concentrations of bacteria are commonly found on toilet flush controls, faucet handles, toilet seats, floors, and entry and exit doors. There is a strong desire to develop touchless toilet facilities so that the user can avoid touching contaminated surfaces. Consequently, it is desirable to develop control systems that detect a user's, or multiple users', actions or movements, so that the various fixtures and equipment in the washroom can be controlled automatically and without the user having to physically touch a contaminated surface.
Moreover, it is desirable that the user's health and safety be maximized, while the costs, and intrusion to the washroom environment by the control system, are reduced.
Kitchen facilities, particularly commercial kitchens, are other areas where touchless plumbing fixtures are useful. For example, a kitchen staff member may use a touchless faucet after handling raw meat, thus avoiding the need to touch a faucet handle before starting the flow of water, or the need for the user to remember to remove gloves before touching the faucet handle.
There is, therefore, a need for improved plumbing fixtures that operate without the requirement that the user physically touch the appliance, and that provide increased health and safety for the user.